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Nearly 80 percent of hospitals report patients who seek care for drug overdoses to security forces – in violation of a 2016 circular that orders them not to – a recent survey by a local drug treatment and advocacy group found.

Skoun's survey found that out of the 133 hospitals surveyed across Lebanon, 29 did not report overdose cases to authorities.

In 2016, the Health Ministry issued Circular 46, which called on hospitals to cease the longtime practice of reporting drug overdoses to authorities.

Mteirik said that while many hospitals had said they were unaware of the circular, others had said they knew of it, but had decided to maintain an internal policy of reporting overdose cases to authorities.